New Delhi: Senior BJP leader L K Advani on Sunday dropped a bombshell saying that his party may not be able to form the next government, remarks that come in the wake of Nitish Kumar opposing projection of Narendra Modi as Prime Ministerial candidate in the 2014 polls.
The 84-year-old veteran’s surprise remarks were immediately lapped up by Congress and other parties which said he has conceded defeat even before the race has begun while BJP leaders differed with Advani’s assessment. Writing in his blog, Advani ruled out formation of a government headed by the Third Front but said that a non- Congress, non-BJP Prime Minister heading a government supported by one of these two parties is possible.
“A non-Congress, non-BJP Prime Minister heading a government supported by one of these two principal parties is, however, feasible. This has happened in the past also,” he said but cautioned that such a dispensation may not last long. Advani recalled a recent conversation he had with two Cabinet Ministers in which they had said they foresaw formation of a Third Front government after the 2014 polls but the BJP leader did not agree with this view.
The remarks of Advani, who is said to be not sharing the rapport which he once had with Modi, have been interpreted by observers whether it was intended against the Gujarat CM as Prime Ministerial candidate and his unhappiness with the party. After the recent National Executive meeting in Mumbai, which saw the coming together ofparty President Nitin Gadkari and Modi, Advani had written a blog expressing his unhappiness over the state of affairs in the party.
Advani’s blog has come against the backdrop of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seeking an assurance from the BJP that Modi will not be NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections. Gadkari had said on Friday that he had discussed the issue of Prime Ministerial candidate with Kumar and assured him that no decision has yet been taken on Modi being the party’s choice for the top post.
Advani on Sunday cited the examples of Charan Singh, Chandrashekhar, H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujral – all supported by Congress – as well as V P Singh, who was backed by BJP, holding the post of the Prime Minister. But, he warned that such governments have never lasted long. “There has been stability at the Centre only when the government has had either a Congress or a BJP Prime Minister,” the BJP leader said. Advani, who is still said to be nurturing the ambition of leading the party in the next elections, claimed that the national polity of the last 25 years has made it “practically impossible” for any central government to be formed without the support of either Congress or BJP. He ruled out on this basis a Third Front government in 2014. (PTI)